Possible Overuse of Angst:

So my series is in a Fantasy setting where there's a war going on and there has been for a while. This has the unfortunate side effect that nearly all the characters are affected in some way. I've realized recently that nearly ALL of the characters (some for reasons other than the war) have some aspect of a Tearjerker in the backstory. Keep in mind that it's not like all of the character's parents were killed by A. Firebender.
(Also, there's the chance that some of this stuff won't even be mentioned for some characters and will just remain Word of God)

A couple of them have dead parent(s) for whatever reason (illness, war, etc.)

I second , but I figured I should add a little bit more. It's worth remembering that all the stuff that happened to your characters is backstory. Stuff in the past. What's important is to focus on the present — the events of the plot, and the anatagonists therein. Those dark and troubled pasts can be motivation or an impetus (or connect one character to another, potentially), but that's it.

Focus on what the characters need to do to bring about a happy ending. Do that, and I'd wager you'll be well on your way.

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